Cold Comfort: New Legal Research Guide on Arctic Law & Policy Resources

The Arctic from space. Credit: NASA

The Arctic is a remote and vast territory. Without an experienced guide and a good GPS, one could get lost quickly.

Doing legal research in a subject on which you are unfamiliar shares some of those same characteristics.

But fear not! The Gallagher Law Library reference team arrives by snowcat and husky sled team to rescue you from a frozen fate.

The Library's website features more than 150 legal research guides on a wide range of subjects. In fact, we cover the globe! From Greater Horn of Africa (Researching Health and Human Rights--Greater Horn of Africa) to Islamic Law Resources and now to the Arctic.

Librarian Grace Feldman has created a new guide on Arctic Law & Policy resources. It identifies and describes key sources including books, government reports and websites, major international treaties and U.S. laws, nongovernmental organizations, and other guides.

Professor Craig Allen requested the guide. He is a member of the University of Washington Arctic Law & Policy Institute,

a collaborative, university-based, multidisciplinary think tank chartered to provide objective analysis of selected law and policy issues related to Arctic marine science, governance, pollution prevention and response, safety of navigation, conservation and management of natural resources and measures to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for Arctic peoples.

Professor Allen recently released a 30-page report on Arctic Law and Policy Year in Review: 2013, which provides an excellent summary of national and international developments affecting the Arctic.

Both the legal research guide and the report are reliable igloos of information. Parka yourself in front of a computer soon to warm up with these sources.